Living in Dunmore, PA — Scranton’s Front Door

Dunmore sits directly against Scranton’s eastern edge — close enough that the two run together, distinct enough that it has kept its own borough government, its own school district and its own identity since 1862. About 14,000 people live here across nine square miles, in a town the Pennsylvania Coal Company built out beginning in 1847.

Its best practical feature is one most people never think about until they’re commuting: the western terminus of Interstate 84 is in Dunmore. I-84 and I-380 follow the Nay Aug Gorge west to the interchange locals call the spaghetti junction, where they meet I-81 and US-6. Very few boroughs this size sit on top of that much highway.

Food & Drink

• Sibio’s on Quincy Avenue — modern Italian, established 1974, lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday.
• Electric City Roasting — ECR Corners on North Blakely Street — the company-owned cafe of a roaster founded in Scranton in 2003.
• Plus a deep bench of neighborhood taverns, delis and pizzerias along Drinker Street, Chestnut Street and Clay Avenue.

Things to Do

Gertrude Hawk Chocolates has been headquartered in Dunmore since it was founded in 1936, at Keystone Industrial Park. Schautz Stadium hosts borough athletics. And because Dunmore borders Scranton outright, everything in the city — Steamtown, the Cultural Center, Nay Aug Park, the RailRiders at PNC Field — is a few minutes away rather than a drive.

Outdoors & Parks

The Dunmore Community Center is the borough’s recreation hub: a community room seating 120 with kitchen access, and a gym with a batting cage, volleyball court and basketball court. It’s open evenings on weekdays, all day on weekends, and rents to residents at a reduced rate. Roaring Brook cuts through the borough and drops into the Nay Aug Gorge on its way to the Lackawanna River — the gorge is a National Natural Landmark, with the park side of it just over the line in Scranton.

Schools

Dunmore has its own school district, and both buildings are physically in the borough — Dunmore Elementary Center (K–6) and Dunmore Junior/Senior High School (7–12), on West Warren Street. District enrollment is about 1,459 with a graduation rate of roughly 85% (PA Department of Education data via GreatPASchools).

The bigger headline: Penn State Scranton’s campus is in Dunmore, on Ridge View Drive. Marywood University, the University of Scranton and Lackawanna College are all minutes away.

School Performance

State assessment results for the high school serving Dunmore, from the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Future Ready PA Index, 2024–25 school year:

• Dunmore Junior/Senior High School — Keystone Literature 48.3% proficient or advanced (statewide 49.9%) · Keystone Algebra I 30.6% (statewide 41.7%) · four-year graduation rate 86.3% (statewide 88.0%)

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education, Future Ready PA Index, 2024–25. We publish these same three measures, from this same source, on every community page in this guide.

Everyday Essentials

Keystone Industrial Park anchors employment on the borough’s eastern side. For hospital care, Geisinger Community Medical Center on Mulberry Street in Scranton is the county’s only Level II trauma center, and Regional Hospital of Scranton handles emergency care for the Commonwealth Health system. (Note that Moses Taylor Hospital no longer operates an emergency room — those services consolidated into Regional in 2023.)

The Homes

Dunmore peaked at 23,086 residents in 1940 and holds about 14,000 today — which tells you almost everything about the housing. The great majority of the stock predates 1940: dense streetcar-suburb blocks, doubles, and solid early-1900s singles on a walkable grid, with post-war and later infill filling the gaps. For buyers who want Scranton access without a Scranton address, this is the closest thing to it.